The Sprout: Partnerships and cream filled chocolates

Good day and welcome to the Sprout, where your host hopes everyone is having wonderful Valentine’s Day. It’s also, fittingly, National Cream Filled Chocolates Day – although your host must insist the chocolates with cherries in them are her personal favourites.

With that, here’s today’s agriculture news.

The Lead

Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay has announced new Canadian Agricultural Partnership details. Under the new framework, which takes effect April 1, approximately $1 billion in federal funding will be distributed amongst a number of program envelopes, the minister said Tuesday. Applications for program funding are now being accepted in order to avoid a lapse in funding. The funding breakdowns are as follows:

Growing trade and expanding markets: $297 million.

This areas has seen an increase of $10 million Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada clarified Wednesday afternoon. Under CAP, the Agri-Marketing Program, which distributes funds to small and medium sized enterprises and national industry associations, will see $121 million in funding over the program’s five years to help the sector “increase and diversify exports.” Another $20.5 million has been earmarked for the AgriCompetitiveness program.

Innovative and sustainable growth: $690 million

This areas sees its funding decline by eight million dollars – a reduction Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada says will be offset by other Government of Canada funding provided outside of CAP (think superclusters, innovation funding etc.)

Up to $338 million has been promised for the AgriScience program aimed at supporting “leading edge discovery and applied science, and innovation driven by industry research priorities.”

Another $128 million has been earmarked for the AgriInnovate program, which the department said will “accelerate the demonstration, commercialization, and/or adoption of innovative agri-based products, technologies, processes or services that increase agri- sector competitiveness and sustainability.”

Supporting diversity and a dynamic, evolving sector: $166.5 million

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada said Wednesday the new CAP program will see a “slight reduction in funding of approximately $2 million” to this area. Those cuts were made as the result of program restructuring in order to better meet producers needs.

Funds have also been reallocated in order to create the new $5 million AgriDiversity Program, which aims to “help under-represented groups in Canadian agriculture, including youth, women, Indigenous Peoples, and persons with disabilities to fully participate in the sector.”

Another $74 million has been set aside for the AgriAssurance program which is aimed at improving public trust. Funding, like the AgriMarketing program, is allocated through national industry associations and small and medium sized enterprises to help develop industry standards in areas like food safety, animal and plant health, environmental sustainability, traceability, quality standards, market attributes, food defense, and system integration. Applications for third party certificates needed for exports are also accepted under this area.

Around Town

Finance Minister Bill Morneau has announced this year’s budget day. Mark your calendars for February 27, folks. (The budget falls one day before the Canadian Federation of Agriculture’s annual meeting kicks off in Ottawa.)

The Senate agriculture committee continues their study of bill C-49 this evening, the Liberals proposed overhaul of the Canadian transportation system. Senators will hear testimony from several agriculture groups including the Alberta Wheat Commission, Cereal Canada, Grain Growers of Canada.

An NDP motion calling on the Liberal government to change its mind on the PACA issue was defeated in the House of Commons on Tuesday. The motion, presented by NDP Agriculture Critic Alistair McGregor reads as follows: That the House call on the government to honour their election promise to implement a PACA-like deemed trust for perishable goods, which Canadian produce growers have called for repeatedly and which both the Standing Committee on Finance and the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food unanimously recommended to this government.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it has received a submission from Monsanto that asks for the approval of a novel food and livestock feed use for cotton genetically modified for insect protection. You can read the full notice here.

In Canada

Nearly one million Canadians sacrificed food and heating last year so that they would be able to pay for their prescription drugs, a new report has found. The Guardian has that story.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane…it’s a weed drone. A Canadian senator wants to know if allowing cannabis to be grown outdoors would leave them vulnerable to aerial drones, which could then swoop down from the sky and steal the plants. iPolitics’ Kyle Duggan has the story.

Internationally

The Hill says American lawmakers are working on a fix to a provision in the new tax law that is having “unintended effects” in the agriculture sector.

The U.S. Cattlemen’s Association has filed a petition demanding the U.S. Department of Agriculture prohibit the labelling of “meat” and “beef” products that do not come from slaughtered animals. Bloomberg has the story.